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L. S. BURRIDGE. DECD. r. o. aumunez, ExEcuTo R.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICAUON FILED OCT. l7, ran.

1,309,316, Patented July 8, 1919.

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L. S. BURRIDGE. DECD. r. o. aumuuez, ExtcuToR.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. :1. 1911.

1,309,31 6. I v Patented July 8, 1919.

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LEE S. BU'IRIRIDG'IEJ, DECEASED, LATE OF NEW YORK, N. Y., BY FRANCIS O. BURRIDGE, EXECUTOR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNDER- WOOD TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE.

TYPE-WRITIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1919.

Original application filed September 27, 1915, Serial No. 52,594. Divided and. this application filed October To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEE S. BURRIDGE, deceased, late a citizen of the United States, and late residing in the borough of Manhattan, county, city, and State of New York, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-VVriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to typewriting machines, and one of its objects is the provision of apracticable machine whose framework and other main parts may be of sheet-metal, readily stamped to form, easily assembled, strong, compact and durable, and of such size and weight as to be contained in a small hand case; all without sacrifice of efliciency.

In machines of this character, it is-import-ant that the typewriter carriage, that is, the carriage upon which the platen is mounted for letter-feed movement across the machine, be made ver 1 light and strong, and it is also an object of the invention to make an accurate and efficient carriageguiding means therefor.

The rail frame upon which the carriage rides is arranged to be shifted upwardly, so as to permit more than one case of type to be employed. The rail frame carries other parts in addition to the platen and its carriage. This rail frame is shifted to its various positions by keys at the keyboard of the machine, and it is important that the various parts, including the platen carriage, be made very light, although this lightness must not decrease the strength and durability of the machine to render the same impracticable or expensive.

According to the present invention, the

side plates, by which the typewriter platen is supported, are economically stamped to final form from sheet-metal. The transverse rods, connecting the side plates rigidly together, are also stamped from sheetmetal. In order that the carriage may resist any bending strains, these transverse stays are bent to form angle bars. These angle bars are preferably riveted to ears formed upon the end plates, and are utilizc-d to forn'i convenient guideways for ball-bearings which support the weight of the platen carriage. That is to say, each of Serial No. 197,004.

these transverse angle bars, which holds the side plates of the carriage together, also forms a raceway for the supporting rolling bearings. p

Two ball rollers are provided for supporting the carriage on a forward raceway. This raceway is arranged so that it is practically beneath the center of the carriage, and the two balls therein carry most of the weight of the carriage. There is only one ball provided in the rear raceway, and the function of this ball, in addition to bearing some of the weight of the carriage, is to prevent any swaying movement of the carriage, particularly to hold, the platen firmly against the impact of the type-bar when striking the platen. This single ball bearing also holds the carriage against horizontal displacement, because said single rear ball is placed at a point under the carriage, directly between the two forward balls which are spread considerably, thus giving to the carriage a three-point connection to the supporting frame.

This application is a division of pending application, Serial No. 52,594, filed Septembcr 27, 1915.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a top plan view, showing the construction of the typewriter carriage and the means upon which it is guided.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofpart of the machine, showing the carriage and part of the shifting frame, with parts of the typewriting mechanism mounted thereon.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine, with the parts of the carriage and supporting frame in section.

key-lever 24. Each of the key-levers 2a is 'l'ulrrumcd against a knife-edged cross-bar and held in elevated position in contact with said bar by means of a spring 26 having both ends connected to the key-lever, and bearing upon a rounded "transverse bar 27, which causes said spring to hold the key-lever 24. elevated.

The platen 21 is mounted upon a shaft 28 journaled in a carriage, designated as a whole by the reference numeral 29. This carriage travels in letter-feed and return directions upon a framework, designated as a whole by he reference character 30.

The platen is shifted vertically by means of a key 31 to a position to receive impressions from an upper-case type 32 carried by the type-bar 20; and is shifted still higher by a key 33 to a position to receive the impressions from an additional type 34:, also carried by the type-bar 20.

In order to obviate the necessity of providing numerous flexible and yielding connections between the shifting typewriter carriage 29 and the parts which control it, and for other reasons, the supporting frame for this controlling mechanism is also utilized as a rail frame to support the typewriter carriage, and this supporting rail frame is shifted vertically to permit the printing of the various cases of type by the key-levers 2-l.

This shifting framework, or shift frame, comprises a rear plate 35, side plates 36 and a front plate 37. The keys 31 and 33 are arranged to engage and lift this shifting frame by means of a lug 38 secured to a. forwardly-extending part of the left-hand side plates 36.

The shift frame is mounted for upward movement by means of two pairs of arms or links 39 and &1, there being one pair of such arms at each side of the machine. The arms 39 are pivoted at one end, as at 39, to an upwardly-extending support 40 of the main frame, and at the other end, as at 89, to the shift frame 30. The arms 41 are pivoted, at one end, as at a1, to a part of the main frame below the supports for the arms 39, and at the other end, as at 4:1, to the shift frame 30. Springs 42, each connected at one end to one of the arms 39 and at the other end to the main frame, assist in the shifting operation, and thereby provide for a light action of the shift keys.

The typewriter carriage 29 is connected by a cord 43, which is wound about a spring drum 4%, to be drawn in letter-feed direction thereby. This drum 1% is mounted between the rear plate and the front plate 37 of the shifting frame 30.

The letter-feed movement of the typewriter carriage is controlled by an escape ment mechanism, which comprises an escapement wheel &5 connected to a pinion 46,

which, in turn, meshes with a rack 41-7 mounted at 48 on the typewriter carriage. The spring drum 4st, through the typewriter carriage, normally tends to feed the typewriter carriage and rotate the escapement wheel The carriage is permitted to move step by step in letter-feed direction by escapement dogs 18 and 53 carried by a dog rocker 49, which is journaled in. a bracket 50 secured to the rear plate 35 of the shifting frame 30. hen a key at the keyboard of the machine is operated, a universal bar 51 directly beneath the keys operates a mem ber 52, suitably mounted on the main frame, which in turn operates the dog rocker -t9 to permit the carriage to feed. The dog rocker s9 is provided with a slot 54 which permits the member 52, which is relatively stationary, to engage the dog rocker in any position of the shifting frame 30, on which said dog rocker is mounted.

7 Other mechanism (not herein shown, but shown in the application for patent Serial No. 52,594, filed September 27, 1915, of which is a division) which forms part of the equipment of the usual typewriting machines, is also mounted upon the shifting frame, for the sake of compactness and to do away with the necessity of providing flexible connections between said parts and the typewriter carriage.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that it is extremely important to have all these shifting parts as light as possible, so that the operator is not burdened by the excessive weight of shifting the platen to print in the two upper-cases. Therefore, it is extremely important, especially in view of the fact that the shift frame carries numerous parts, that the platen carriage be made extremely light, although, of course, this lightness must not so decrease the strength and durability of the machine as to make it impracticable.

The present invention relates to the arrangement and construction of a typewriter carriage which is simple and economically manufactured, and so light in weight as to be used to advantage in a small portable machine, especially in a machine as above de scribed.

The carriage side plates 55 are stamped to final form from sheet-metal. These stamped side plates are held parallel to one another and in proper spaced relation by two strips 56 and 57 of sheet-metal. The strips 56 and 57 are riveted to cars 58 which are formed integral with the side plates 55; that is, these ears are stamped to form and bent to form an angle of 90 with the side plates.

The strips 56 and 57 are stamped from relatively thin sheet-metal. In order to obtain suflicient rigidity and strength, these strips are bent longitudinally to form angle bars whose sides form angles of 90, more or less.

To simplify the mechanism and reduce the number of parts, therefore making the entire machine lighter, these transverse angle strips are arranged so as to be used as guide ways for rolling bearings which support the weight of the platen and the platen carriage. The complementary guideway 59, for the forward rolling-bearings, is formed by bendingthe front plate 37 of the shift frame 30, so that in cross-section that part of the plate 37 will be similar to the angle strip 56. The complementary guide-60, for the angle strip 57, is formed by bending the rear plate 35 of the shift frame, so that in cross-section this part of the plate 35 will be similar to the angle strip 57. In addition to forming the complementary guides for the angle strips, these bent portions 59 and 60 serve to strengthen the shlft frame.

It will be seen, therefore, that the angle strip 56 and the bent portion 59 of the front plate 87, form a complete race-way for the" forward ball-bearings 61, and that the angle strip 57 and the bent portion 60 of the rear plate 35, form a complete race-Way for the ball-bearing 62.

The carriage is supported principally by means of the race-way 56, 59. This raceway is located beneath the typewriter carriage, slightly forward of the center of gravity of the carriage, and contains two ballbearings which are held in spaced relation, as seen in Fig. 1, by a cage 63 stamped of sheet-metal. The rear race-way 57 60 contains only one ball-bearing 62 which is located in the center of the machine, as seen in Fig. 1. This ball-bearing 62 is held in position by an extension 64 of the cage 63, which is formed integral with the cage 63.

It will be seen that it is only necessary to provide a single ball in the rear race-way, because the carriage is adequately supported by the two balls in the front race-way. The principal function of this rear ball 62 is to prevent the shifting movement of the platen, particularly to hold the platen against movenent when the type, which travels upwardly and rearwardly, strikes against the front face of the platen.

It will be understood that the race-ways may be provided with either ball-bearings or roller-bearings.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a supporting frame, of a platen to be moved step by step in letter-feed direction across said supporting frame, and a carriage for said platen comprising sheetmetal side plates and a pair of sheet-metal angle strips, which are arranged to serve both the purpose of rigidly connecting the side plates and forming the guideways for rolling bearings upon which the carriage is guided when traversing the machine.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combi nation with a platen, of a main frame, a platen frame shiftable between case positions on the main frame, and a carriage I nation with a platen, of carriage side plates in which the platen is mounted, said slde plates being stamped to form from sheetmetal, transverse stays for said side plates, in the form of angle bars, stamped and bent from sheet-metal, ears extending from said side plates to which said angle bars are riveted, a shifting frame for supporting the carriage formed of sheet-metal, guideways formed by bending said frame, said transverse stays for the carriage being so arranged as to form guideways complementary to the guideways on the shifting frame, and rolling bearings between said guideways, said guideways of the shifting frame and the guideways of the carriage frame together forming two race-ways for the rolling bearings.

4:. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen, of carriage side plates in which the platen is mounted, said side plates being stamped to form from sheetmetal, transverse stays for said side plates,

in the form of angle bars, stamped and bent from sheet-metal, and ears extending from said side plates to which said angle bars are riveted.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen, and carriage side plates in which the platen is mounted, said side plates being stamped to form from sheet-metal, of transverse stays for said side plates, in the form of angle bars, stamped and bent from sheet-metal, said angle bars also forming guideways upon which the carriage moves transversely of the machine, one of said angle bars being arranged beneath the typewriter carriage, to act as the main support for the typewriter carriage, the other of said angle bars forming a steadying guideway to the rear of the supporting guideway.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen, and carriage side plates in which the platen is mounted, said side plates being stamped to form from sheet-metal, of transverse stays for said side plates, in the form of angle bars, stamped and bent from sheet-metal, said angle bars also forming guideways upon which the carriage moves transversely of the machine, one of said angle bars being arranged beneath the typewriter carriage, to act as the main support for the typewriter carriage, the other of said angle bars forming a steadying guideway to the rear of the supporting guideway, said steadying guideway being provided with a single rolling bearing arranged in the center thereof.

7. In a typewriting machine, a main frame, a platen frame shiftable between case positions on the main frame, said platen frame comprising side plates and front and rear cross plates, said-cross plates having ways formed thereon, a platen, supports in which the platen is ournaled, said supports being seated on said ways, and means for effecting letter-feed movement of said supports, with the platen, on said ways.

8. In a typewriting machine, a main frame, a platen frame shiftable between case positions on the main frame, saidv platen frame comprising side plates and front and rear cross plates, each of said cross plates having formed thereon one part of a ball race, aplaten, supports in which theplaten is journaled, strips carried by said supports, each forming another part of one of said ball races, balls in said races, and means for effecting letter-feed movement of said platen supports, with the platen, on said ball-bear- FRANCIS o. BURRIDGE, Executor of the last will and testament f Lee S. Bur-ridge, deceased. 'lVitnesses CHARLES WV. HOWELL, EDITH D. PENROSE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

